Mike Miller confident he will not be lost to amnesty clause

MIAMI — Mike Miller was back at Miami Heat practice Tuesday. The oft-injured swingman came off surprisingly confident that he is here to stay.

Despite recently undergoing recent surgery for a sports hernia, and despite standing as a prime candidate for the Heat to unload to the amnesty provision in the new collective-bargaining agreement, the veteran swingman said, "Right now, it seems like I'm pretty secure here."

Teammate Udonis Haslem agreed, "As far as I'm concerned, Mike Miller is here to stay and I'm looking forward to playing with him this year."

Of the possibility of the Heat instead choosing to invoke the amnesty clause and save on Miller's salary-cap and luxury-tax hit, Haslem said, "I'm almost positive it won't."

Miller said he is hopeful of being ready for the Dec. 25 season opener on the road against the Dallas Mavericks, but acknowledged it is a longshot amid a prognosis of being sidelined four to six weeks from last week's surgery.

"Obviously it's good to be out of the house and out of bed for a little bit," he said, "so just take it one day at a time."

Miller said he has spoken to Heat President Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra.

"They're going to handle it the way they have to," he said, "and right now it seems like I'm pretty secure here. But I'm just going to prepare myself and be ready to play wherever it is."

Teams can utilize the amnesty clause prior to any season in the soon-to-be-ratified new collective-bargaining agreement.

"I've been in this league now 12 years. I've been traded 675 times," Miller said with a grin. "First time I've been amnestied, but you get used to it. You do what you can."